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Lodging in Gatlinburg/Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park area

My husband and I are planning our first vacation to the Smoky Mountains in late August/early September. I have been looking at different places to stay, and to say the least, it's a bit overwhelming. I am looking at cabins in the Greenbrier Valley Resorts, but it appears they are quite far from the main entrance to Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park. We plan on doing quite a bit of hiking in the park and the scenic drives, so we don't want to be terribly far from the park.

Has anyone stayed at the cabins in this resort and can comment on the cabins and how convenient the resort is to the park and Gatlinburg? We plan on visiting the Arts & Crafts loop and possibly having some dinners in Gatlinburg.

Do you have a favorite place to stay in the Gatlinburg area? I could use some help sifting through the countless options available. Thanks for your help!

We went to GSMNP in March 2011 with the intention of enjoying the park/nature & hikes. After research and reading many posts here about lodging, I knew my family didn't belong in the more commercial areas and learned about Townsend! We found a wonderful home on VRBO.com that was perfect for us.Townsend is right by a Park entrance and the home we had enabled us to cook breakfast, pack our picnic lunch and head out for the day of hikes.

We did not find dining in G'berg area that was worth braging about. Our best meals were those picnic creekside in the park.

We enjoyed the quiet Townsend area with horseback riding and easy access to the park.

The vrbo.com home allowed us 2bd 2bath with fireplace burning nightly. With 2 kids, having a full washer/dryer was a huge plus. Listing is #344471

We loved staying in a cabin called "At First Sight" that we found on vrbo. It was up Ski Hill Rd, very near the entrance to the GSMNP. There was an interesting Mexican restaurant (the name escapes me) on the same road. We loved hiking in the park, the scenic drives, and the Arts & Crafts Loop. The rest of Gatlinburg was awful--the epitome of tacky tourist trap on steroids.

We usually stay in Townsend, which is considered the "quiet" side of the park. We have gone through Dogwood Cabin Rentals and have had lots of luck. If you like the shopping, traffic and lots of restaruants to choose from, then Gatlinburg is where you want to stay. If you plan on doing a lot of hiking, here's a good reference: http://www.hikinginthesmokys.com/
I would also suggest going after Labor Day a it will be very, very crowded on that weekend.

I love Greenbrier! There is nothing like swimming in the Little Pigeon River at Greenbrier. The Greenbrier Restaurant is also not far, and quite good. Sorry that I know nothing of Greenbrier Valley Resorts. I always stay at Bent Creek, up the road.